Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of January 22, 2024

Sampie Brown on January 28, 2024

Prayers points:

  • The number of healthcare workers in the Basque system who requested mental health assistance has almost doubled compared to what was seen in 2019. The treatment is for anxiety, depression and for burn out. The increase in requests are also being seen across other communities in Spain.
    • Pray for the mental health of healthcare workers.
  • Suicide continues to be one of the leading cause of death for all ages and for youth it is currently near the top. This has raised concerns and they are working to understand them while looking to provide solutions for the causes identified. It is also being seen across the world as an issue. One solution for Basque Country has been to provide training in primary schools (US elementary school), talking with health care professionals on how to see at-risk people and have a special number for people to call for help.
    • Pray for those who are contemplating suicide, their families and leaders as they look for ways to address the situation.
  • The results for a EU wide evaluation exam of the education system showed that Basque Country had a significant drop in scores across language, reading and science. In Math, Basque country, even with the fall, was still above the rest of Spain & EU countries. However in reading and science they were below the averages.
    • Pray for the educators, students and leaders as they investigate the drop in test scores and look to improve them for the future.
  • Since 1975 the King of Spain has delivered a message on Christmas Eve at 9pm. For 2023 King Felipe VI started talking about the different problems in Spain. The focus then shifted to 45 years of the constitution for Spain, what it provides and how it needs to be protected, as well as the importance of unity in Spain as it looks to move forward in the future.
    • Pray for the future of Spain and all the different regions that make up the country.
  • Inflation is currently at 3.4% in Basque Country and is expected to continue to be high in 2024. The cost of food for the Christmas meals was higher than last year, as a result some families moved to other non-traditional foods for the meal. People are continuing to make changes to their regular purchases to get the most of the money they have.
    • Pray for the population as they look to spend the money they have wisely
  • Basque Country will be having elections sometime before August 11, 2024, with them likely happening sometime in April. The parties have started to circulate candidates for the open positions. At the national level Sánchez and the PSOE party continue to face opposition from the PP party due to the amnesty agreement.
    • Pray for the upcoming Basque Country elections and that the national politicians would work together.
  • Statistics about pornography were recently reported with ~63% of young people (13-17) have seen it for anywhere between 300-400 hours. Boys are more likely to consume ~82% compared to girls at ~40%. The government has attempted to put a verification system in place, though it does not seem to be working. The Basque school system currently has sex education in 5th/6th grade, though is thinking of moving it back to be in 3rd/4th.
    • Pray for leaders as they look for solutions and young people to not be drawn to this form of media.
  • Pope Frances is nearing the completion of his 11th year. Recently he stated that priests are permitted to bless same sex marriages or those who were divorced previously and remarrying. This is also after his announcement about baptisms for trans-sexual and babies of some sex couples.
    • Pray for the catholic church and the impacts of these decisions.

The verse for the week:

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

‭Hosea‬ ‭10:12‬ ‭NIV‬

Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of September 4, 2023

Sampie Brown on September 7, 2023

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

  • The number of cases of sexual diseases in Basque country is on the rise, so much so that health care officials are concerned. The number of cases of syphilis and gonorrhea have gone up exponentially since 2018. The director of public health shared this was not a problem unique to Basque Country as similar increases are being seen in other parts of the world.
    • Pray for those who are sexually active with multiple partners and the health care workers that are treating them.
  • Basque country currently has ~5700 people who have some level of protection due to male violence. Most of the protection is directed towards women, though children and men are being protected as well. Four levels of protection exist with most of the cases falling in the basic level of protection.
    • Pray those who are being protected, those that are doing the protection and those who are the attackers.
  • The Basque Country budget has increased ~21% over the last 3 years. The three areas that have driven the largest part of the increase have been: health care, education and government services to help with employment and social services. Thankfully they have been able to address the increase with European grants and taxes.
    • Pray as leaders work to ensure these areas are well funded without neglecting the other areas.
  • Schools officially are scheduled to start on Thursday, September 8. New education rules were passed and were partially implemented for the last school year. This school year they are obligatory. The evaluation process is an area that is seeing considerable change as they move from a number grade system to be one that uses 5 different categories to communicate mastery of the material.
    • Pray for educators, parents and students as they return to school and as they work through the impacts of the new education laws.
  • The next steps are being taken politically after the July 23 elections. On Saturday, September 2 Pedro Sánchez was inaugurated as the leader of the PSOE party. He is also the currently functioning president of Spain. The legislature will vote on who will be PM on September 26/27. It’s expected to be a close vote between Sánchez and Feijóo (leader of the PP party). Puigdemont is also back in the news as his upcoming trial starts Thursday September 7 for his actions in the Catalonia separatist movement in 2017. Also, conversations have restarted about changes in how some regions interact with the Spanish government, with Basque Country being one region that is leading the request for this change.
    • Prayer for the political leaders as they begin the legislative session at the national and regional levels.
  • The employment market took a turn in August, and the impact was felt across several different sectors. It‘s much better than 2022 and they believe it’s part of the normal cycle that has been seen in previous years during the month of August.
    • Prayer for those who are seeking work, business owners and leaders as they work to understand the situation now and for the future.

The verse for the week:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

News for prayer for Week of March 21, 2022

Sampie Brown on March 23, 2022

Headline News:

COVID coverage has been greatly reduced. Overall the number was up double compared to last week, though they are not seeing an impact in the hospital system. They are currently saying the increase is from the large gathering of Carnival that happened. The territory map is showing considerably more color, as previously it was all red. It was noted that positives in the residential homes increased 45% in our region. Also they are not planning to provide a fourth dose of the vaccine for those in residential homes or those over 65. Thankfully the number of positives in the workers of those facilities continues to be low.

Last week the Basque Country experienced winds that contained Sahara sand. This resulted in the air quality being very low for a couple of days. Additionally everything was covered in sand particles. Since it’s passed the lines now at the car wash places have increased as people look to have their cars cleaned as even after it rained a thin layer of the Sahara sand was still present.

Economy:

We are now into our second week of the truck driver strike. They are on strike as the price of fuel has increased 50%, without them being able to compensate for the increase. It is also impacting the delivery of fresh fish from the docks, as the ships arrive they are not finding the transportation for the fish to the fish markets or distributors. It is also starting to impact deliveries to the supermarket and the paper is reporting some of them are having shortages of different items.

The living cost for a family has increased ~350€/mnth. That was comparing Feb 2021 to Feb 2022. The largest increase was in the housing category which was impacted due to increase in energy cost. The only category that had a decrease was communication, which was a very small decrease. Inflation for the month of February in Gipuzkoa was reported at 7.1% which is the highest level in 30 years.

The IBEX35 ended last week on an upward trend closing at 8417.60, a 3.38% increase for the week.

Political:

The leaders of all the autonomous regions in Spain gathered last week for the first time in a decade. Pedro Sánchez gathered the leaders so they could talk about the current humanitarian and economic crisis that is happening due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One key point was how to address the continued increase in energy cost that is affecting everyone. During the week the Spanish government put forward a request to limit the cost of electricity to 180€/Mwh. They also talked about how to help the Ukrainian refugees who will be making Spain their home.

Pedros Sánches also made a visit to Morocco. The visit has not been viewed well by several different parties. This is because of what happened 47 years ago when Spain transferred control of Western Sahara to Morocco. While this was a strategic discussion, it is causing quite a stir politically for him. It seems the United States was putting pressure for him to have the conversations.

In Basque politics, it looks like the education reform will finally be passed. Conversations for changes began in February and it’s been quite an effort to get the reform passed. They believe this is a good pass for the future of the Basque Education system. Though not everyone is in agreement with the direction of the reform as the teacher’s union was calling for a strike on March 25. To date the document has not been published publicly. It will be a couple of weeks before that happens as it works its way through the approval process.

International:

The only story covered in the international section has been the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last week the leaders of Poland, Scotland and Czech Republic traveled to Kiev. The purpose of the trip was to ensure that Ukraine knows they have the full support of the EU in its effort to defend themselves. A lot of concern existed for the safety of travel given the Russian missile strikes, which is why they chose to travel by train. People in Gipuzkoa have been very generous and last week 5 trucks from the area were driven to Ukraine with donated items. The Basque government is working on a plan on how to help those who will be arriving from Ukraine. They are expecting between 350-700 people, though the number could be more.

Sports:

Real Sociedad played against Sevilla to a 0-0 draw. The team is currently in 6th place overall. They also lost the team captain Mikel Oyarzabel with a knee injury for the rest of the season. The next game is against Espanyol on April 4th.

GBC played against Mallorca Palma to the result of a 85-67 loss. Then they played against Hueseca and lost 68 – 85. Then another loss, 68-74 to Palencia. With the 3 losses the team is now situated in 11th place overall.

The women’s hockey team in San Sebastian won the championship in the Iberdrola Hockey league, for the first time in its history. The team had an incredible regular season winning 17 of 18 games. Then they went on to have victories in semi final and final to win the title. The team has quite the makeup of ages from 16 to 40.

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the wide reaching impacts
  • Truckers Strike
  • COVID-19
  • Education Reform

The verse for this week was from my weekly reading:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV